A HEART FOR CHANGE

 A HEART FOR CHANGE

 

CONNECT Some years ago a type of men and women began to emerge in the life of the church. They were called revivalists. Just as evangelists are called to bring life to the lost, the revivalist is called to bring life to the church. Their heart’s desire is for revival to sweep over sleepy churches and see them burst into holy flame. A. W. Tozer writes about them.

 

“If Christianity is to receive a rejuvenation, it must be by other means than any now being used. If the Church is to recover from the injuries she has suffered, there must appear a new type of preacher. The proper, ruler-of-the-synagogue type will never do. Neither will the priestly type of man who carries out his duties, takes his pay and asks no questions, nor the smooth-talking pastoral type who knows how to make the Christian religion acceptable to everyone. All these have been tried and found wanting.

 

Another kind of religious leader must arise among us. He must be of the old prophet type, a man who has seen visions of God and has heard a voice from the Throne. When he comes (and I pray God there will be not one but many), he will stand in flat contradiction to everything our smirking, smooth civilization holds dear. He will contradict, denounce and protest in the name of God and will earn the hatred and opposition of a large segment of Christendom. Such a man is likely to be lean, rugged, blunt-spoken and a little bit angry with the world. He will love Christ and the souls of men to the point of willingness to die for the glory of the One and the salvation of the other.”

 

Revival usually comes on the backs of these other-worldly men and women. Are we willing to take up that call? Have you been singled out to be a revivalist? 

You don’t have to be a minister! In fact, we need more Spirit filled laymen to work in secular jobs burning for God. Often, when asked what I do for a living, I tell them I am a school teacher. If they know I am a pastor, they will dismiss what I say because they see me as special, not like everyone else.

Today, we will return to the story of the re-building of Jerusalem and look at one of the prototypes of a revivalist and the spiritual renewal that took place under his influence. Our hero and model for today is Ezra. 

 

PRAYER

 

MESSAGE Revivalists are concerned about one thing: life change. They long for men and women to be changed by an encounter with a holy God. Throughout history, revival has been marked by dramatic life transformation by those who participated. The key is “a heart for change.”

 

The Preparation of the Revivalist

 

Ezra 7:6 Ezra came up from Babylon; and he was a skilled scribe in the Law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given. The king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.

 

Ezra 7:10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.

 

If we want to be a revivalist, these are some things we should strive to be. 

 

1.    A person of the Word.

2.    Anointed by God. 

3.    Have a pure heart. 

4.    Be obedient to the Word. 

5.    Disciple others. 

 

The Principles of the Revivalist

 

1.    Repentance

 

Ezra 9:3 So when I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and plucked out some of the hair of my head and beard, and sat down astonished.

 

Ezra 9:5-6 At the evening sacrifice I arose from my fasting; and having torn my garment and my robe, I fell on my knees and spread out my hands to the LORD my God. And I said: “O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens.

 

2.    Confession and Change

 

Ezra 10:1 Now while Ezra was praying, and while he was confessing, weeping, and bowing downbefore the house of God, a very large assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept very bitterly.

 

Ezra 10:2-3 And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, spoke up and said to Ezra, “We have trespassed against our God, and have taken pagan wives from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope in Israel in spite of this. Now therefore, let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and those who have been born to them, according to the advice of my master and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.

 

Ezra 10:5 Then Ezra arose, and made the leaders of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel swear an oath that they would do according to this word. So they swore an oath.

 

The Preaching of the Revivalist

 

1.    Based on the Word. 

 

Nehemiah 8:1-3 Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month. Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

 

2.    Teaches the People

 

Nehemiah 8:4-6 So Ezra the scribe stood on a platform of wood which they had made for the purpose… ⁵And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. ⁶And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. Then all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.

 

3.    Raises Up Others

 

Nehemiah 8:7-8 Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law; and the people stood in their place. ⁸So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading.

 

4.    Leads to celebration, confession, repentance, praise, and worship.

 

The Path of the Revivalist

 

APPLICATION How do we respond to all this? I hope you will read these two books, Ezra and Nehemiah, on your own and let God speak to you. I confess I am convicted by my own carnality when I look at the life of Ezra. Several things admonish me. 

 

1.    His depth of sorrow over sin.

2.    His total commitment to the Word of God.

3.    His singular devotion to the things of God. 

4.    His unabashed love for the people of God.

 

PRACTICAL STEPS

 

1.    Spend more time in the Word of God.

2.    Pray more; work less.

3.    Spend time in confession and repentance.

4.    Pour your own life message into others.

 

INSPIRATION Allow me to quote Tozer again as we close. 

 

“The most pressing need just now is that we who call ourselves Christians should frankly acknowledge to each other and to God that we are astray; that we should confess that we are worldly, that our moral standards are low and we are spiritually cold. We need to cease our multitude of unscriptural activities, stop running when and where we have not been sent, and cease trying to sanctify carnal projects by professing that we are promoting them “in the name of the Lord” and “for the glory of God.” We need to return to the message, methods and objectives of the New Testament. We need boldly and indignantly to cleanse the temple of all that sell cattle in the holy place, and overthrow the tables of the money-changers. And this must be done in our own lives first and then in the churches of which we are a part.”

 

FINAL THOUGHTS Will we hear the call? Will I hear the call? As I am staring into the last years of my life I have some regrets. I wonder what might have been if I had only had eyes for Jesus; if I had spent more time with Him and in His Word. I am asking God in my latter years to restore unto me what the enemy has stolen. To allow me, like Samson, to slay more enemies of God in my dying that in my living. 

 

You may feel the same way. It is not too late! Cry out to God and ask Him to give you the years back. If you are young, live so you will not have regret. Sow your life into God and your family and see what He will do.

 

Remember, He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly more than we can ask or even think! To Him be Glory in the church now and forevermore!

 

MINISTRY TIME

BUILD THE WALL

 BUILD THE WALL

 

ME  I love to watch movies of medieval warfare like The Ring Trioligy or Braveheart. Often victory would involve getting through the walls of a city. Many tactics were used: ladders, scaling, catapults, or trickery, as in The Trojan Horse. The gates were often breached because they were the weak points in the wall. A city with no walls, broken walls, or broken gates was easily defeated. 

 

WE Many people today are fighting battles with unseen enemies. There are multiple reasons for this and the book of Proverbs has many things to say about it. This one verse has always spoken to me 

 

Proverbs 25:28 Whoever has no rule over his own spirit Is like a city broken down, without walls.

 

Just as cities with broken walls are easily defeated, Christians without spiritual walls are easily defeated.  Today, the title of my sermon is “Build the Wall”. Now this has nothing to do with politics! I want to talk about building a wall of spiritual protection around our lives and shutting our gates to the enemy. 

 

GOD Last week we looked at the return of God’s people to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. Some years later another group returns to rebuild the walls and gates that have broken down. That pilgrimage home was under the leadership of Nehemiah.

 

Nehemiah 1:1-3 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. It came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the citadel, that Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.”

 

This is a terrible situation. Nehemiah knows that Jerusalem is easy prey for their enemies. How did Nehemiah respond?

 

Nehemiah 1:4 So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

 

He was broken over the condition of the city. He responded with fasting and prayer. This was his prayer. It is one of the greatest prayer in all Scripture. 

 

Nehemiah 1:5-11 And I said: “I pray, LORD God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments, please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations; but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.’ Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand. O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” For I was the king’s cupbearer.

 

He confessed their sin; he claimed their covenant; he called for God’s blessing. God would indeed prosper him as he rebuilt the walls and hung the gates. Let’s see the steps he took and make spiritual application to our lives.

 

Nehemiah 2:11-13 So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days. Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me; I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem; nor was there any animal with me, except the one on which I rode. And I went out by night through the Valley Gate to the Serpent Well and the Refuse Gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire.

 

Where is your wall broken?

1.    Where are you struggling?

2.    What are your besetting sins?

3.    Where are you being attacked?

4.    May need others to see blind spots.

 

What are your broken gates? Enemy access points

 

Proverbs 26:2 Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, So a curse without cause shall not alight.

 

Ephesians 4:27 Don’t give place to the devil.

 

An open gate is any violation of God’s Word: 

1.    Any impurity or addiction

2.    Wrong covenants/promises, friendship with the world

3.    Bitterness, unforgiveness, resentment

4.    Bitter root judgment

5.    Generational curses and iniquities, familiar spirits

6.    Spiritual Schizophrenia, double-minded

 

Sin spiral: external trigger, thought, temptation, sin, habit, stronghold, demon...

 

How do we repair broken walls and gates?

 

1.    Decide to rebuild. 

 

Nehemiah 2:17-18 Then I said to them, “You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach.” And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me. So they said, “Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to this good work.

 

2.    Use your weapons

 

Nehemiah 4:13 Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

 

2 Corinthians 10:3-6 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, (NASB the destruction of fortresses) 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

 

Word, Worship, Witness, Work

 

Nehemiah 4:6 So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

 

One of the contemporary prophets said this:

 

Haggai 2:4 “Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ says the LORD; ‘and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land,’ says the LORD,‘ and work; for I am with you,’ says the LORD of hosts.” 

 

3.    Stay in process…

 

1.    Identify the open gate, the cause, the root.  

 

         a. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you any door you have opened to the enemy either knowingly or unknowingly. The enemy doesn’t play fair.

 

         b. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you any ground you have yielded to the devil either knowingly or unknowingly. 

 

2. Ask Jesus to come, forgive, and close the gate.

 

3. Pray and declare. 

 

         a. I close every door I have opened to you either knowingly or unknowingly.

 

         b. I take back all ground I have yielded to you either knowingly or unknowingly.

 

         c. I break all generational curses and familiar spirits. 

 

         d. I break all iniquities and roots in my life…

 

         e. I renounce all covenants with the world; my friendship with the world.

 

         f. I declare that I belong to Jesus and the enemy is trespassing on private property.  I command him to go in Jesus' Name!

 

         g. Father, come and fill me right now. Jesus, come and fill me right now. Holy Spirit, come and fill me right now. Fill and possess every room of my heart.

 

The work was finished!

 

Nehemiah 6:15-16 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days. And it happened, when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God.

 

Now what?

 

Nehemiah 7:1 Then it was, when the wall was built and I had hung the doors…

 

Nehemiah 7:3 And I said to them, “Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot; and while they stand guard, let them shut and bar the doors; and appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, one at his watch station and another in front of his own house.”

 

Keep the gates shut and stand watch at work and at home.

 

MINISTRY TIME

 

 

GOING BACK HOME

“GOING BACK HOME”

 

Three months ago, in the middle of this pandemic, I spoke to us about “The Scattered Church”. Just as the church was scattered in the books of Acts, it is scattered today by COVID 19. The early Christians took the Gospel with them and the church flourished. I believe we have had the same opportunity and the church has grown. But I also believe we are entering a new era. 

 

Some 500 years before the coming of Christ, the people of Kingdom of Judah were taken captive and carried to Babylon. They stayed there 70 years. At the end of that period, God restored them to the Promised Land. 

 

I believe that God is doing the same thing in the church. He is taking us out of captivity and restoring us completely. A spirit of revival is breaking out and the greatest days are ahead for the church!

 

Today, I want to speak of the topic of “Going Back Home!” I want to look at what we can do to prepare for this new awakening that is coming. We will look at how Judah responded when they returned. The restoration of Israel is told in the book Ezra. 

 

The Stirrings of Revival

 

1.    God stirred the government to mandate the return. 

 

Ezra 1:2  Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: “All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah.”

 

2.    God stirred the hearts of the people to return. 

 

Ezra 1:5 Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits God had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.

 

3.    God stirred others to help with encouragement and offerings. 

 

Ezra 1:6 And all those who were around them encouraged them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with precious things, besides all that was willingly offered. 

 

The Steps to Revival

 

1.    A remnant of the people returned under the leadership of Zerubbabel.

 

Ezra 2:2 Those who came with Zerubbabel…

 

2.    They rebuilt the altar of sacrifice. 

 

Ezra 3:2 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brethren, arose and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.

 

3.    They began to rebuild the Temple.

 

Ezra 3:8 Now in the second month of the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, began work and appointed the Levites from twenty years old and above to oversee the work of the house of the LORD. 

 

The Resistance to Revival

 

1.    Compromise

 

Ezra 4:2 They came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the fathers’ houses, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do; and we have sacrificed to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.”

 

2.    Discouragement

 

Ezra 4:4 Then the people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah. They troubled them in building,

 

3.    Opposition

 

Ezra 4:6 In the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

 

4.    Termination

 

Ezra 4:23 Now when the copy of King Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem against the Jews, and by force of arms made them cease.”

 

What was the result of all this opposition? The revival stopped!

 

Ezra 4:24 Thus the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem ceased, and it was discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

 

The Return of Revival

 

1.    The Necessity of Preaching

 

Ezra 5:1-5 Then the prophet Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophets, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. 

Haggai 1:2-5 Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, saying: ‘This people says, “The time has not come, the time that the LORD’s house should be built.” ’ ” Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying, “ Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?” Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: “Consider your ways!”

 

2.    The Response of the People

 Ezra 5:2 Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak rose up and began to build the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and the prophets of God were with them, helping them.

Haggai 1:12-14 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him; and the people feared the presence of the LORD. Then Haggai, the LORD’s messenger, spoke the LORD’s message to the people, saying, “I am with you, says the LORD.” So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God. 

 

The Results of Revival

 

1.    The work is finished. 

 

Ezra 6:14 So the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and finished it!

 

2.    Worship is restored. 

 

Ezra 6:19 And the descendants of the captivity kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

 

3.    Holiness returns. 

 

Ezra 6:21 Then the children of Israel who had returned from the captivity ate together with all who had separated themselves from the filth of the nations of the land in order to seek the LORD God of Israel. 

 

Our Response to Revival

 

1.    What is God stirring you to do right now?

2.    Ask God about your role in bringing revival to the church.

3.    Listen to the voice of preachers. 

4.    Finish your task.

 

An Application for Today

 

This story applies to the church. If we are to return from the captivity of the pandemic we must listen to His voice and act in faith. We must be stirred to return or to help. We must come and place ourselves on His altar as a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable to God, which is our spiritual service of true worship. We must not yield to oppression or opposition. We must press on to fullness, worship, and holiness.

 

Hebrews 10:35-36 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.